Threatens to take the children or prove you are an unfit mother if you leave.

Destroys your personal property.

Hits, punches, slaps, kicks, shoves or bites you or your children.

Threatens to hurt you or your children.

Uses or threatens to use a weapon on you.

Forces you to have sex against your will.

If you answered "Yes" to even a few of these, you are in a Domestic
Violence Relationship and need to seek Counseling and help immediately.

YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE TRUTHS

Battering is rare.

TRUE:

Battering is extremely common. The F.B.I. estimates that a woman is battered
every 12 seconds in the United States. Over two million women a year are abused.

Religious beliefs will prevent battering.

TRUE:

Religious beliefs do not prevent battering.

Domestic violence is usually a one-time event, an isolated incident.

TRUE:

Battering is a pattern, a reign of force and terror. Once violence begins
in a relationship, it gets worse and more frequent over a period of time. Battering is not just one physical attack. It is
a number of tactics (intimidation, threats, economic deprivation, psychological and sexual abuse) used repeatedly. Physical
violence is one of the tactics. Experts have compared methods used by batterers to those used by terrorists to brainwash hostages.
Without outside intervention, battering tends to repeat itself, unless the cycle is broken with counseling.

When there is violence in the family, all members of the family are participating
in the dynamic, and therefore all must change for the violence to stop.

TRUE:

ONLY THE PERPETRATOR HAS THE
ABILITY TO STOP THE VIOLENCE. MANY WOMEN WHO ARE BATTERED MAKE NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR IN THE HOPE THAT
THIS WILL STOP THE ABUSE. THIS DOES NOT WORK. CHANGES IN FAMILY MEMBERS' BEHAVIORS WILL NOT CAUSE OR INFLUENCE THE BATTERER
TO BE NON-VIOLENT.

Battered women always stay in violent relationships.

TRUE:

Many battered women leave their abusers permanently, and despite many obstacles,
succeed in building a life free of violence. Almost all battered women leave at least once. The perpetrator dramatically escalates
his violence when a woman leaves (or tries to) because it is necessary for him to reassert his control and ownership. Battered
women are often very active (and far from helpless) on their own behalf. Their efforts often fail because the batterer continues
to assault.

Drinking causes battering.

TRUE:

Assailants use drinking as one of many excuses for violence, and as a way
of putting responsibility for their violence elsewhere. There is a 50% or higher correlation between substance abuse and domestic
violence, but no casual relationship. Stopping the assailant's drinking will not end his violence. Both problems must be addressed.

Children need both parents, even if he is violent, or "I'm only staying for
the sake of the children."

TRUE:

The exposure to violence will emotionally impair the children.

Men who batter do so because they cannot control themselves or because they
have "poor impulse control."

TRUE:

Men who batter are usually not violent toward anyone but their wives/partners
or their children. They can control themselves sufficiently to pick a safe target. Men often beat women in parts of their
bodies where bruises will not show. Sixty percent of battered women are beaten while they are pregnant, often in the stomach.
Many assaults last for hours. Many are planned.

Once a battered woman, always a battered woman.

TRUE:

Some women can, and do, break the cycle, most often through leaving the batterer,
and through counseling.

STILL NOT SURE IF YOU ARE BEING ABUSED?

CONSIDER:

Are you cursed at, called names or blamed whenever things go wrong?

Is free time limited to your partner's interests only?

Are you forbidden to use money, never buy anything for yourself?

Is it impossible to enjoy outside friendships due to jealousy?

Does your partner have a "Jekyll & Hyde" personality?

Do you cover or make excuses for your partner's behavior?

Do you do more than a fair share of the work, paid or unpaid?

Do you feel you must ask permission to do things?

Are you sometimes punished for "misbehaving"?

Did your partner grow up in an abusive family?

Are you the "butt" of humiliating jokes?

Is there a scene if you express an opposite opinion?

Do you live in fear of your loved one?

IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED "YES" TO:

1 or 2

Take notice, strive together to improve troubled areas.

3 to 4

Seriously examine relationship, seek qualified counseling.

5 to 6

Relationship breaking down, abuse is the issue. Marriage counseling may not
be appropriate until FEAR ceases.

7 to 15

Intervention needed! Seek individual help from counselor familiar
with abuse issues. Joint therapy is not recommended.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE LATEST FACTS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Every 12 seconds in the United States a woman is battered in her home.

Over half the women murdered in the U.S. are killed by a current or former
partner.

12% of teenagers and more than 20% of college students have experienced dating
violence.

If you are in an abusive relationship you need to seek help now...through your local Domestic Violence agency,
or Angels On Earth 954-251-4344, Shelter, Church, Law Enforcement Agency...or you can call the National Domestic Violence
Hotline for help in your area at: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), 1-800-787-3224 (TDD).

A Warning for Battered Women

Do not tell your abuser you are leaving.

Do not tell him if he does it again you will call the police.

Do not leave your children with your abuser!!!!!

Get your important papers together, give them to a friend or find somewhere to hide them so
you can get to them quickly and grab them and leave if necessary. CALL 911, don't be a fool and think your abuser will
change. If you are reading this, your abuse has been going on for too long. Get help. Seek out your nearest Domestic Violence
shelter. Get involved with a support group. Leaving can be a hard thing to do--you will need help to find the courage and
the strength to leave your abuser.

Once you leave, do not contact your abuser accept through the Court system. Do
not fall for his lies, because he will say he is sorry, it will never happen again, and he may even cry. IF YOU GO BACK,
IT WILL BE WORSE. Don't lose your life for someone who doesn't know how to love you. Don't let your children lose their
lives because he can't have you, or he doesn't want you to have the children if he can't have them.

Read the newspapers,
listen to the news--women and children are dying every day around this country because of Domestic Violence. Don't let it
happen to you. Contact us today.